Grab seeks M&A deals

It is being backed by Softbank Group.

A report from Bloomberg Technology said Grab, Uber Technologies Inc.’s fiercest rival in Southeast Asia, is hunting for deals with funding from its biggest backer SoftBank Group Corp.

The five-year-old startup has built a team for mergers and acquisitions led by President Ming Maa, with a pipeline of deals under review, Chief Executive Officer Anthony Tan said in an interview Tuesday. He declined to elaborate on specific targets and said the company doesn’t have plans for an initial public offering because it has plenty of funding from investors.

Grab’s funding has been helped by a strong relationship with SoftBank that has blossomed since Tan first met with Masayoshi Son at the billionaire’s Tokyo office in 2014. Tan said he listened to Son’s advice to take his money, which was agreed upon with a handshake, and the Japanese company has backed every funding round since.

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